A Damsel In Distress
by Flipenda
Summary: It's Year Five of Hogwarts for Lily, James, and the gang. Seeing as this is a Lily James story, it's on the verge of writing itself!
1. So Long Home

"Lily darling, have you got everything?"

"Yes mum. Can we _go_ now?"

"Well, call Petty and we'll go."

"Finally!" Lily Evans stood at the foot of the staircase in her house and called up to her sister. "Petunia! Let's go, I'm going to be late!"

"Why should I care?" came the sour reply.

"Because I'll hex you into next week if you don't hurry up. And by the time we catch up with you in next week, you might realize that we'll be stuck with each other for the entire school year!"

Petunia Evans came sliding down the banister, all attempts at putting on make-up forgotten. "What are we waiting for, then?"

"Mum and Dad," replied Lily.

"**MUM! DAD!**" they shouted.

Christine and Mark Evans ran towards the girls. "Ready?"

"Yes! Let's go!"

Lily sat in the back seat of her father's car, fingering her prefect badge. 'This is going to be a great year. Well, it's not going to be much of a great year with Potter around, but a good year nonetheless.'

The car pulled up at the train station and Lily ran around to the back of the car grabbed her luggage, dumped it into the nearest trolley, ran around to her father's side of the car, and tried to get him out.

"Let's go daddy!" Lily cried, tugging on his arm.

"All right, I'm coming!" Mark laughed.

Once they were all out of the car, Lily hugged her parents and turned to her sister. "Have a good year Pet," she whispered as she hugged her sister.

"You too," Petunia whispered back.

Lily grabbed her trolley and, facing the barrier, looked over her shoulder and waved good bye to her family. She ran through the wall and let out a deep breath.

Now to find her friends and get settled. But somehow, Lily knew that it wasn't going to be anywhere near that simple.

"Oi! Evans!"

'Not now,' thought Lily. 'Please not now!' Lily's fifth year at Hogwarts was already off to a bad start. Just hearing her name come out of that _thing's_ mouth made her angry. She turned around slowly, dreading the sight she was sure to see. James Potter and Sirius Black grinned at her.

"What do you want?" she asked evenly, surprising herself. James stood staring at her, that idiotic grin still on his face. Sirius elbowed him in the ribs.

"Oh! I …um… er…I mean, well…." Sirius shook his head pitifully at James, and pushed past him.

"What my friend here means to say is," here he got down on his knees and looked up at Lily. "Evans, would you like to share a compartment with us?"

Lily pretended to think about it. "Gee I'm _really_ sorry, Black." She stressed the word _really_ and rolled her eyes. "But I can't."

"Aw, come on Evans, why?" James had finally come to and was now on the ground next to Sirius.

"One because I don't like you, two because I have to go to the prefect's compartment, three because I really don't like you, four because I have other-no actual friends to meet, and five because I just don't like you." Lily stalked onto the train.

"You know, I'm getting the impression that Lily doesn't like you two very much."

James and Sirius looked up to see one of their best friends, Remus Lupin. They Looked at each other and exchanged glances. "Say Moony, did you get prefect this year?" Sirius asked conversationally.

"Yes. I was just on my way to-" Remus was cut off by James and Sirius looking up at him once again, this time with identical malicious glints in their eyes. 'Uh-oh," thought Remus. 'This is not going to be a good year."


	2. All Aboard!

"What arrogant, egotistical, self-centered pigs!" Lily fumed, walking aboard the Hogwarts Express. "They know that I would never waste my time being anywhere _near_ them! What makes them think that I would actually share a compartment with them? I mean-!"

A squeal loud and high enough to rival a banshee's filled the air and cut her off. A second later, Lily found herself engulfed in a massive hug that was given by a mass of black hair. "Lily!" the hair squealed again. Lily at last recognized the mass of hair as one of her friends, Tina Thomas. Lily squealed back in greeting, and the girls hugged again, this time chattering excitedly as they ran into an empty compartment.

When they came up for breath, they heard a snide voice remark, "Well, if this isn't they most touching sight I've yet to see, Severus." Lily groaned inwardly and turned to face Lucius Malfoy. He continued speaking to Severus, just loud enough for the girls to hear. "The Mudblood and the Half-Breed are together again." Severus Snape stood just behind and to the left of Lucius, trying and failing to look malicious.

"That's not the most touching sight you've yet to see Malfoy!" rang out a voice from behind. Malfoy whipped around and sneered and the two petit blondes walking towards them, Alice and Arabella Davis.

"Yeah!" Arabella was saying. "This is!" Both girls ran past Lucius and Severus, into the compartment, and jumped on Lily and Tina, giving them huge hugs. The four girls fell into a madly giggling pile on the floor.

Lucius scowled and dragged Severus away from the compartment. "Bye Malfoy!" they called. As the train began to move, the girls began to tell everything about their summers that weren't covered in letters.

Their laughter was interrupted by a knock on the compartment door. Lily untangled herself from her friends and opened the door. Remus Lupin stood in the doorway; looking as if the sight of girls sprawled all over the floor was a natural occurrence. He greeted the tangled mess on the ground one by one and turned to Lily.

"Hello Lily," he said in his mild voice. Lily felt a pink tinge creeping up her face.

"Hi Remus," she managed. All of Lily's friends knew that she was taken with Remus.

"Lily, can I walk you down to the Prefect's compartment?" he asked.

"Sure Remus. Thanks," she replied, stepping out of the compartment. "How did you know that I made Prefect?"

Remus smiled down at her. "Well, Lils," he said, using his nickname for her. "You're the obvious choice. You're at the top of our year, everyone loves you, and you're perfect from the job. No question about it. Oh, then there is your beauty, but I don't know if that's fair to the other candidates."

Lily cursed her genes. 'Why do I blush so easily?' she pleaded with herself. Remus looked down and saw with delight that she was blushing. "Of course," he finished. "That's just my opinion."

Lily had no time to come up with a reply, because Remus had just opened the door to the Prefects compartment. He held it open for Lily and stepped in after her. They sat down quietly in the matching red and gold seats with large P's above the headrest representing Gryffindor.

Since the Head Boy and Girl hadn't arrived yet, Lily took the opportunity to look at the other Prefects. In the blue and silver seats for Ravenclaw, Joanne Edwards and Thomas Boot sat. Occupying the two yellow and black seats of Huffelpuff were Ashley Bones and Matthew Jones. Donning green and sliver were the Slytherin prefects Andromeda Black and Severus Snape.

Lily didn't know Andromeda too well, but Lily had seen her screaming at her younger cousin on a regular basis, so she was alright in Lily's mind. She knew and was on friendly terms with everyone in the compartment, (yes, Snape too) so she felt pretty much at ease with everyone in the compartment.

That was, of course, until she found out who the Head Boy was.

All chattering in the compartment ceased when the new Head Girl, Molly Pewitt crossed the threshold. She was a gorgeous girl with fiery red hair and a temper to match. As pleasant a girl as she was, most people made a point to stay on her good side. Her chocolate brown eyes swept the compartment and came to rest on Lily and Remus. She smiled and sat down on a black chair bearing the Hogwarts crest and the letters HG.

Not long after, the Head Boy entered. To nearly everyone's dismay, the new Head Boy was none other than Lucius Malfoy. He shook his blond hair out of his eyes and fixed a cold gaze upon everyone in the compartment except for Severus. The coldness in his eyes intensified when he saw Lily and Remus. He looked as if he were about to saw something, but Molly was already calling the meeting to order. He settled himself beside her and continued glaring at Remus and Lily.

Over the next hour, the Prefects learned of the four balls being given that year. There was to be one ball for each Halloween, Christmas, New Years, and Valentines Day. This information left Lily positively shivering in anticipation of the first, the Halloween ball.

The Prefect were told that they were to act accordingly, (by Molly) when they were to do rounds and who they were to do them with, (by Molly) when all of the meeting of the year were to be, (by Molly) and that the Heads were taking no from anyone during the school year. (By the fire-breathing dragon himself, Lucius.)

At the end of the meeting, they were given the list of passwords for the entire school year. When Lily and Remus looked at their list, they found it blank. When they looked at Molly questioningly, she glared at Lucius who was looking determinately in the other direction. She rolled her eyes and looked around the compartment at the Prefect's questioning faces.

She instructed them to point their wands at the parchment, say their entire names, their house name, their fellow Prefect's name, and who they were rooting for in the Quidditch World Cup that year.

When they looked at her again, she shrugged and said, "Dumbledore." Everyone smiled in understanding.

"He's always been off his rocker," Remus whispered to Lily. She giggled. If possible, Lucius' glare became so strong that Lily and Remus could feel him boring holes into their backs.

Remus looked around at Lucius sharply and gave him a glare of him own. Lucius' eyes widened slightly, and he looked away.


	3. Sirius' Hair

"He gives me the creeps," Lily complained to Remus as they left the meeting.

"I know," he agreed. "Malfoy has always got to pick on anyone he believes to be under him. Especially if they're not purebloods. I wouldn't be surprised if he turned out to be a Death Eater." He looked down as Lily failed to stifle a gasp. "I'm sorry," he said immediately. "I shouldn't have-!"

"Hold on Remus," Lily quieted him. "It's okay. I know we can't always live in the safety of Hogwarts. Pretty soon, there won't be safety anywhere, maybe not even Hogwarts. That's a world I'm just going to have to learn to live in."

Remus put an arm around Lily's shoulder. "That's just it Lily. You shouldn't have to." He opened the door to her compartment. It's was empty.

"Odd," said Lily. Just then, there was a huge explosion from the compartment three doors down. The windows were covered in sparkling purple muck.

Remus and Lily ran towards the compartment and threw open the door. Every occupant of the compartment was covered in purple muck from head to toe. James, Sirius, Peter, Alice, Arabella, and Tina were looking in awe at the remains of a red balloon.

"What-?" Remus started. James held up the remains of the balloon as an answer to Remus' unfinished question. _"Scourgify!"_

Are you serious?" Lily looked around the compartment.

"My birth certificate leads me to believe so," Sirius replied cheekily. Lily burst out laughing.

"Lily, it's not that funny," Tina looked at Lily oddly.

Lily looked at her seriously. "Of course it isn't. That's the worst pun I've ever heard. I'm laughing at his _hair_!" Sirius had pretended to faint at her insult and Lily sat down.

"Dear Lily," Sirius started, conjuring a mirror big enough to give his ego a run for its money. "When will you learn that my hair is always perfect?" He looked into the mirror and let out a bloodcurdling shriek.

"Bloody hell Padfoot!" James yelled. "You scream like a girl!" James suddenly found himself under four angry glares. "No offense ladies," he said hastily.

Sirius ran back and forth in the compartment, trying and failing to tear out his now lilac-colored, glittering hair. He caught another glimpse of himself in the mirror and with a last cry of "My hair!" fainted. Arabella stood up and took out something that resembled a Muggle camera.

"That won't work Bella," Alice reminded her.

Arabella smirked and said, "Charmed."

In the space of about five minutes, each girl had taken a picture with the unconscious Sirius Black. Some girls made rude gestures; others poked more fun at his hair, styling it in pigtails and such. Finally, they forced Remus to take a picture of all four of them, doing something to Sirius that would make Lucius Malfoy faint.

"Ahh. Sweet blackmail," the girls chimed. They looked at each other and laughed. James was gawking at Lily, too entranced to stick up for his best friend. Remus was too busy laughing, but Peter looked horrified.

Peter marched over to Sirius, Conjured an out-of-date copy of the _Daily Prophet_, rolled it up, and proceeded to whack Sirius round the head with it. "Pull yourself together! What the hell are you doing?" Peter continued to box Sirius around and yell obscenities at him until he rolled over onto the compartment floor. Then he sat down looking positively horrified at what he'd just done.

James had finally come to, and took that opportunity to bound up onto Sirius and start singing Muggle show tunes. Sirius tried to jerk away from James' horrible voice, but no avail. "Mph!" he protested. James looked down at wiggling, horrified form that was his best friend and his eyes lit up.

"Tell me he's not," said Remus incredulously.

"He is," Alice and Arabella replied in unison.

James dance down the length of Sirius' back, still singing at the top of his lungs. "All right!" Sirius shouted. "Damn! What were you singing anyway?"

"Muggle show tunes," said James, grinning at Lily. She rolled her eyes and left the compartment. James shrugged and turned to face everyone else in the compartment. "So…how are we going to fix this? I mean Sirius' hair?" All the girls rolled their eyes and followed Lily. Remus and Peter followed the girls.

"Erm…Alright then, I guess it's up to me." Sirius' eyes went upwards and he mouthed the word, 'Merlin'. James rolled up his sleeves and studied Sirius' hair. "Um…_Finite Incantatem_?" he waved his wand a bit. "Excellent! Here," he handed Sirius a mirror.

"My hair!" Sirius cried joyfully. "My hair! Merlin, you have no idea how much I've missed you! Alex, good to see you back to normal. Dean, how the bloody hell have you been…." James rolled his eyes.

"Oi Moony! Wormtail! The hair's back!"

"Good," said Remus as he came in. "I don't think I could stand the sight of Sirius with glittering lilac hair any longer!"

"Hey!" Sirius glared at Remus. "Don't say lilac! The manly word is purple!"

"Lilac, purple, whatever. Your hair was a color closely associated with the color pink.

"Where are the girls?" asked James, cutting Remus off.

"Getting dressed," Peter supplied, smirking at James eagerness to know where Lily was. "I think we should be doing the same."

"Lily, is this your tie or mine?" asked Alice.

"Does it have an embroidered LAE on the inside?"

Alice checked. "Nope."

"It's probably mine," said Arabella and Tina at the same time. They all laughed.

"But seriously, whose is this? I know for sure it's not mine."

"Well, let's get a good look at it." The four girls examined the tie.

"Nope," they said as one.

"Then where's my tie?" Tina asked.

The four girls looked at each other. "The Marauders," they growled.

"They can be alright at times, but Black and Potter really get on my nerves."

"They are the limit."

"I don't know about you, but I'm taking a stand." Two other girls agreed. They all turned to Lily, who had her back turned.

She turned around slowly, a mad gleam in her eyes. "The days of the Marauders getting the best of us are gone. I don't care how, I don't care when, but I'm sick of it," the gleam in her eyes became more pronounced. "I'm pranking back."

"Severus, Andromeda, this will be my last year at Hogwarts. That means that this will be the absolute best year Hogwarts has ever seen; or the worst, depending on what side you're on." Severus looked at Lucius eagerly, awaiting more information. Andromeda just rolled her eyes and studied her fingernails.

'I've got much better things to be wasting an hour on,' she thought, thoroughly pissed. 'I could be talking to Evans. She needs to know what I'm going to tell her more that I need to know what this overgrown, bird-brained, inbred monkey is saying.'

"Black!" Malfoy was calling her. "What was I just saying?"

Andromeda shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, and frankly, I couldn't give so much as a rat's arse." She stormed out of the compartment, muttering curses under her breath as she went.


	4. The Sorting Part One

"I'll see you guys at the feast!" Lily called over her shoulder. Her friends nodded in agreement, smiling knowingly. Lily grinned ruefully at them before turning around completely. She found herself looking at a broad, robe-clad chest. She looked up: into the menacing eyes of Lucius Malfoy.

"Careful Mudblood," he snarled. "You never know when you might _slip_." Lily pushed past him. She walked haughtily towards the Prefect's carriage, where she saw Remus climbing up. Suddenly, she stumbled. A pair of arms reached out and caught her before she actually fell.

She whipped around to see Sirius, his eyes for once not filled with happiness or boyish charm, but a hatred that can only be reserved for family.

"Oh dear me," came a sickeningly sweet false voice. Bellatrix Black smirked at her cousin and Lily. "Did the mean Bella hurt widdle Wiwy Evans?"

"Actually, you didn't. Would you like another go? Obviously, the element of surprise doesn't work for you." Lily had finally found her voice and had surprised herself. Sirius looked down at Lily in shock and grinned.

Bellatrix's demeanor morphed completely. The 'smile' on her face was replaced by a very ugly look. "Watch your step Mudblood," she hissed. "The Dark Lord…"

"Oh yes! The _Dark Lord_. I bet mummy and daddy have just been _dying_ to meet him. Whatever happened to that lying , Rodulphus Lestrange? Word has it that he graduated from Hogwarts last year and into Azkaban. But you don't care, do you? No. You only care about that piece of Dark Lord that you one day hope to marry!" Bellatrix turned and started to walk away. "Who would have guessed that the new generation of Death Eaters actually has hopes and dreams?"

"Padfoot! What's going on?" James came running up to them, his glasses askew and his eyes aglow.

"Bellatrix," Sirius replied. As an answer to James' still questioning gaze, he nodded to Lily, who had already extracted herself from Sirius' grip. James cursed under his breath, his eyes now stormy.

Lily stood a bit apart from them. "Er…thanks Black, for, you know…" she trailed off uncertainly.

"Anytime Evans."

Lily nodded towards James, flustered. "Potter."

"Evans."

Lily walked off with as much dignity as she could muster; which was not very much, all things considering. James looked after her, his head cocked to the side, mouth slightly open. "Wow…"

"Close your mouth Prongs," Sirius snapped. "I damn near swam to the castle in first year; I don't plan on doing it again.

"Hey Lils," said Remus. He helped her up into the Prefects carriage.

"Hi Remus," she answered. Remus looked her over.

"Are you alright?" he asked. Lily shook her head in answer. "C'mon Lils, what happened?" he coaxed her. Lily lifted her eyes to meet his and, with a pang, Remus saw that there were tears in her eyes.

"Remus, what's wrong with me? Am I dumb? Ugly? Does _everyone_ hate me?" Lily slowly contradicted everything Remus had complimented her with a few hours earlier. "Are they better than me?" Lily finally asked.

Remus forced Lily to look into his eyes once more. "They couldn't hold a candle to you. You're a million time better than any of them will be."

"But why do they hate me? It can't be because they're Slytherins, look at Tina and Andromeda's not bad either."

"Lily," Remus gently chided her. "They can't stand you being better than them at anything. Wait, who are we talking about, specifically?"

Lily mumbled something. "What?"

"It's Lucius and Bellatrix!" she wailed.

Remus became stiff suddenly. Lily looked at his face. In his eyes burned the same anger that was in both James' and Sirius' eyes. There was so much hatred radiating through his eyes that Lily felt she would die if she were on the receiving end of that stare.

"Remus?" Lily took his hand tentatively. He looked down at her, his eyes at their friendliest, but his body was still tense.

"We're here," was all he replied. Then, "Let me get out first, and then I'll help you out." He jumped down onto the soft earth below, neglecting the stairs. "Lily?" he called up. She came and proceeded to jump in the same manner Remus had. "Oh no you don't," he stopped her.

Lily just pouted and said, "Spoilsport." She stepped on the topmost stair and jumped down next to Remus.

He shook his head. "Have it your way…" Lily hit him over the head.

"Prat."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"He is too," came two voices behind them. James and Sirius grinned at Lily in a manner that they must've thought to be charming. "Hello Evans," Sirius said, mock-kissing her hand. "Always the fair one in a group of boys."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Lily asked, miffed.

Sirius left James to take care of the situation, seeing as a carriage containing a group of fourth year Ravenclaws had just pulled up to the school. James grinned nervously, running a hand through his hair. "For you Lily, anything is a compliment."

Lily glared at him, hiding a blush that was threatening to creep up her face.

"You," she rounded on Remus, who was shaking with ill-concealed laughter. "Prat." She turned to James, "Prick." She yelled after Sirius, who was already trying to get a date to Hogsmeade. "A-class pain in the ass!"

Sirius mumbled a quick, "Excuse me ladies," and tore down the steps to where Lily was standing, Remus and James gaping at her. Sirius mimicked their expressions. Lily tossed her head and started up the stairs.

"Are not!" the boys cried out.

"Are too!" Lily called out behind her.

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

This continued up the steps and until the boys finally caught up with Lily. Sirius grabbed her and James and Remus began to tickle her mercilessly. She shrieked and cried out for her release, but the boys paid her no mind. Those who did pay her mind though, were ridiculously jealous second, third, fourth, fifth, and even sixth and seventh year girls. Lily struggled to her knees and began pleading with the boys, in between shrieks and tears. The boys had finally begun to tire out and they helped Lily to her feet.

"Prat!" she yelled at Remus. James and Sirius stood laughing at the expression on Remus' face. Lily took that opportunity to mess up both of their heads. Their faces took on Remus' shocked expression. All three boys rounded on her and Lily sprinted off towards the Great Hall, oblivious to the many jealous glares she was receiving.

Lily took her place at the Gryffindor table, and waved to Tina over at the Slytherin table. She sensed rather than heard the Marauders sit down across from her, Alice, and Arabella. She decided to switch into anti-Marauder mode. "Look, it's the show that never ends," she muttered to her friends, just loud enough for the boys to hear. Peter looked at her oddly. Sirius whispered something into James' ear and both boys sniggered. Remus just shook his head, grinning slightly, and looked up at Dumbledore, who had just stood up.

"The first years should be arriving shortly from their journey across the lake," he began. A wave of laughter crossed the Great Hall. Journeying across the lake was no small feat. He continued. "Until the Sorting begins, I suggest you take this time to talk amongst yourselves." His eyes twinkled as he looked in the direction of the Gryffindor table. He sat down and an immediate buzz took over the Great Hall.

Lily and Alice spoke in hushed tones, facing only each other. Arabella grabbed the boy's attentions by starting a belching contest. Tina walked over from the Slytherin table and joined the contest. Sirius soon let out a winning belch,; one that made everyone within vicinity jump. A second later, James' stomach growled so loud that everyone jumped again.

"Merlin, there really is no pleasing you two!" cried Alice in disgust.

"We're much easier to please than you girls!" James cried out in defense.

"Yeah," Sirius agreed. "At least we don't get y once every month!"

Arabella glowered at him. Tina Glowered at James. Peter hoped that none of the four girls would ever glower at _him _like that.

Lily's eyes lit up and she grinned secretively. She whispered something into Alice's ear and her eyes began to glow too. This continued until all of the girls' eyes were twinkling enough to give Dumbledore a run for his money.

The boys had no time to ponder what was going on because at that moment, the doors to the Great Hall swung open, revealing the new first years, half of which were soaking wet. Tina ran back to her table, with a promise that she'd be back for dinner. Peter took that opportunity to ask the remaining girls a question.

"What were the four of you laughing about?"

Arabella smiled sweetly at him and said "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Um, yeah," James said, refusing to let the subject drop.

"It was a rhetorical question, Potter," Alice snapped.

"See what I mean Padfoot?" James whined to Sirius. "One minute they're quiet, the next mysterious, then sarcastic, happy, and then I get snapped at for no reason!"

"It's part of the female cycle, Potter. You'll find out what I mean soon enough," Lily hinted. The three girls broke into raucous laughter.

Peter was perplexed. Remus knew from experience not to take the four or any one of the girls lightly, and was slightly scared. Sirius was examining his hair again. James, however, was literally tearing out his hair and banging his head on the table. Sirius grabbed his friend's shoulders to stop him. The Sorting was about to begin. James had begun muttering.

"Bleeding mad, the lot of them!"


	5. The Sorting Part Two

Professor McGonagall led the first years into the Hall, towards the stool supporting the Sorting Hat. Every first year looked nervous, but upon closer inspection, Lily saw that three of the new additions weren't of the norm. There were two boys and a girl. All of them had black hair, but the boys had extremely messy hair and the girl's hair was tinted blue on the last inch. They didn't look scared, but they still clung to each other.

McGonagall unrolled the list of names, and the Ceremony began.

"Anderson, Nicole"

A very small girl pushed through he peers and up to the front. McGonagall placed the hat on her head and stood back. Two seconds later, the hat shouted "GRYFFINODOR!" Nicole jumped out from under the hat and into the arms of a boy that had just stood up at the end of the Gryffindor table.

"Must be her cousin," Arabella muttered.

"Why not her brother?" Alice asked.

"That's Frank Longbottom," Lily interjected. "He's an only child. They must've adopted her or she's distant family that showed up after Frank's father was murdered."

James looked around at Lily. "His father died?"

The three girls looked at James incredulously. "You've lived in the same dorm with him for four years and you don't know anything about his family?" asked Alice, completely at loss at how little boys communicated other than to announce how hungry they were.

Lily took over. "Potter, your father is Ministry official and he never bothered to tell you that one of your _friend's_ family was killed off by Voldemort?" Lily's eyes were so wide that James would have bet his Nimbus they were going to fall out of her head. He tried to change the subject.

"You know, we really should be watching the Sorting." Lily said nothing, just turned her attention back to the Sorting.

The first of the three kids that caught Lily's attention was about to be Sorted. It was one of the boys. As the Hat was placed on his head, he smiled as confidently as he could at his siblings. The Hat took a moment's consideration before, "GRYFFINDOR!" The boy walked over to the table, still shaking slightly and sat down next to Lily. She smiled gently at him and received a shaky one in return.

"Gardiner, Michelle," announced McGonagall. The boy's attention snapped back to his sister. Lily admired her black and blue hair as Michelle walked up to the Sorting Hat and found herself tugging wistfully on her own ginger locks.

Michelle sat down on the stool, shaking just a bit more than her brothers. Both had their eyes glued on her. "GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the Hat jubilantly. Michelle jumped off of her stool and ran down the Gryffindor table to meet her brother.

Lily watched them embrace and felt a pang of sadness. 'Why can't Petty and I be like that all of the time?' she thought forlornly.

Everyone returned their attention back to the last Gardiner, whom McGonagall had just introduced as Robert. He made his way up to the stool and sat down, quaking more visibly than either of his siblings had been. McGonagall placed the Hat onto his head and stood back.

The Hat seemed to be having some sort of debate and was opening and shutting its brim. About a full minute later, when plenty of people's faces were taking on a blue tinge from having held their breath for so long, the Hat finally shouted to the Hall,

"SLYTHERIN!"

A gasp went through the Hall. Those who were waiting for the Hat to make its decision and were denied of oxygen had to breathe in quickly to gasp along with everyone else.

Murmurings started to flood the Hall and Lily didn't hear the name of the next person to be Sorted. She watched in a kind of unexplained pity as Michelle and her brother lowered their heads.

While walking over to the Slytherin table, Robert scanned it for a place to sit so he'd be out of common sight as soon as possible. A girl with long black hair caught his eye. She was looking at him intently. He quickly looked away and saw a couple of the older Slytherins leering at him. He quickly walked over to where the raven-haired girl was sitting.

Tina had been watching the Ceremony very closely. She'd gotten an odd feeling when she looked at Robert. She knew he was just like her in the instant that she'd laid eyes on him. 'He needs to sit near me!' Tina thought when Robert was Sorted. She saw him making his way over and settled into the calm, cool demeanor that got her sorted into Slytherin in the first place.

"Hi," he said glumly as he sat down. Tina felt her heart break for the boy. He at least deserved _some _kind of welcome.

"Hi. Robert, right?" He nodded. "I bet you wanted to be in the same house as your brother and sister, huh?" He nodded again. "Well, when the Sorting is over, how about you come with me to eat dinner with my friends?"

Robert looked at her, one eyebrow cocked. "Why would I want to do that?"

Tina smiled at him. "Do you see those three girls sitting next to your brother?" Robert nodded. "Those are my friends. I also think that you might want to get a good image in your head of how the four boys across from them look before tomorrow."


	6. The Sorting Part Three

"Oh no," Lily whispered. She'd seen as Robert was Sorted into Slytherin, and as his siblings hung their heads in sadness. She saw Tina talking to Robert and her outlook on the situation changed immediately. She tried to console Michelle and her brother. "Look," she said. "See that girl your brother is talking to?" They nodded. "That's our friend Tina. She'll bring Robert over here with her when dinner starts." The two brightened up considerably at the prospect of seeing and speaking with their brother again so soon.

Zacherly, Jessica became a Ravenclaw, and Dumbledore stood up once again. "There comes a time to be careful and guarded. There is a time to live and let live. But now, it is time to eat!"

Lily looked across the table towards the boys, two of which were looking back at her. James saw her looking at him, blushed, and then looked away. Lily locked eyes with Remus, who mouthed 'Off his rocker' at Lily. She smiled back at him, successfully stifling a giggle.

Dumbledore spread his arms wide, food appeared on all the tables, and the feast began. "C'mon," Tina whispered to Robert, and they sprinted across the Hall to the Gryffindor table.

Dumbledore watched them, his blue eyes twinkling as Robert sat next to his sister and Tina slid in next to Arabella.

"Hey, when are we going to retaliate?" Tina was anxious to know.

"Desert," Arabella answered. "Keep your voice down. I'll pinch you and you'll kick Peter. I'll kick Remus, Alice'll get Black, and Lily'll handle Potter."

"Very nice plan, I must say," Tina whispered half mischievously, half sarcastically. Was that the best they could come up with? 'Good thing they've got a Slytherin to formulate the other schemes.' Tina thought to herself.

"Did you catch the name of the boy next to Lils?"

"Yeah, it's Daniel."

Arabella told Alice and Lily. Lily turned towards Daniel and asked, "How old are you three?"

They looked at her, surprised. "Thirteen," Michelle answered. "How did you know that we weren't First-Years?"

Her American accent took them aback. That is, everyone except for Tina. Aside from speaking with Robert earlier, Tina had spent time in America over the summer, and the American accent wasn't foreign to her anymore.

"You're American?" James asked unintelligently.

"Ignore him," said Lily quickly, kicking James under the table.

"You just don't look that young," Alice recovered next. Everyone else nodded in their assessment.

Meanwhile, an argument was forming between Lily and James. "Ow!" he exclaimed. "What the bloody hell did you do that for?"

Lily glared at him. "I have two reasons," she said loftily. "One, your stupidity is getting on my nerves, and two, I felt like it."

"Oh, I see," said James. So does that mean that I can do anything _I_ feel like doing?"

Lily locked gazes with him. "Not in your bloody dreams Potter."

Desert came about twenty minutes later. Just as the Marauders were bout to start their second helpings, Tina sneezed. Peter squeaked indignantly. Arabella, Alice, and Lily all sneezed as one and each kicked the boy across from her. James, who was already nursing a bruised shin, let out a yell, and fell backwards off of his bench. The other boys looked down at their legs and crowded around James checking to make sure he was alright and laughing at him in random intervals.

The four girls leaned forward and sprinkled shimmering substances into the boys' food. James' blue, Sirius' lilac (A/N: Yes, lilac, this isn't the time to be MANLY), Remus's green and Peter's yellow. The girls sat back, satisfied, as the Gardiners looked on interestedly.

Sirius looked up at Lily, his hair a mess and his eyes aglow from laughter. "Evans, you really should stop touching Prongs here. People might begin to get the wrong idea." Lily began to blush.

"Black," Arabella started. "You need a comb. Badly."

"Padfoot my friend, you hair is the sorriest sight I have yet to behold." Remus got up and made his way over to his spot on the bench.

That was enough for Sirius. He conjured up a mirror and looked at his hair as James and Peter took back their spots on the bench. His eyes grew wide at what he saw. He looked around and, exercising great self-restraint, banished the mirror. As he finally reclaimed her spot, he noted that James was now sitting in a manner similar to Lily's. 'Smart move, mate' he thought.

James opened his mouth, no doubt in an attempt to chew Lily out, or at least tell her that she'd earned her merit as a witch, when she smiled and winked at him. James just sat there, gaping at Lily until Sirius nudged him. "Padfoot," Lily heard him whisper. "Mate, I think she just _winked _atme." Sirius looked at Lily, who caught his eye and gave him a death glare.

"You're off you rocker, mate."

The girls linked their fingertips and, as one muttered "Femminus". The four boys tossed their heads at the same time. They looked at each other, shrugged, and started on their fourth helpings. The girls and the Gardiners muffled their laughter.

Two minutes later, all the food in the Great Hall disappeared. Sirius and James looked sadly at the plates that once held half-finished treacle tart. Remus and Peter turned towards Dumbledore with everyone else.

The Hall was silent as Dumbledore began to speak. Even James and Sirius quit their idiocy. (A/N: Not for very long.) "My dear students," he began. "This year holds many promises. Some are good. But others, seemingly most, are promises of a world that will self destruct. Take time and take care in what you do and who you're with. Be secure in yourself, your surroundings, and most importantly, the company you keep." He sat down. "Good night, Hogwarts," Lily heard him say. She felt a lump rise in her throat and swallowed hard in an attempt to get rid of it.

"First Years!" Remus called. "First Years over here please!" Lily snapped back.

"Yes. First Years follow us!" She and Remus walked out of the Great Hall, a line of sleepy First Years followed them up the many moving staircases and up to the Fat Lady's portrait. Remus turned to Lily and said something, but all Lily heard was a screech similar to the ones Tina occasionally let loose. Lily giggled as a slight flush crept up Remus' cheeks. He cleared his throat.

"Lily, I need your help. I mean I _really_ need your help. My sanity throughout this term depends on it." Lily looked up at him, clearly curious. "See, I have this friend," he began slowly.

"A friend, huh?" Lily smiled.

"No, not me," he said, his hands waving frantically.

"Okay," said Lily.

"My friend, he, uh…he has a crush on this girl." Remus, voice went up several octaves on the word 'girl'. He cleared his throat quietly. "This girl my friend likes, well, she doesn't like him too much." (A/N: And that's putting it mildly.) "He stands no chance with her. She's not only out of his league, but out of this world. He goes on about her, day and night, in person, in letters, through the Floo Network. Everything to him is somehow related to her. The other guys and I like her too, even though I'm the only one that she'll talk to without having to resist the urge to throw a hex. My friend is head over bloody heels for her, and he won't leave me alone until she knows. As if she didn't already. What should I do?"

They turned around to face the ten half asleep First Years. "This is the only way to access Gryffindor Tower. The portrait of the Fat Lady is the only portrait that can let you into the dorms."

Remus took over. "In order for the Fat Lady to let you in, you would have to have the password. The password is changed every two weeks, or whenever necessary."

"The password is 'Lunarious'. Be careful who you tell the password to, because _anyone_ with the password can gain access to the Tower. Likewise, if you forget the password or don't find out when it is changed, you'll be locked out until someone lets you in, or you get caught by Filch the caretaker." Behind Lily, Remus was confirming the password with the Fat Lady.

"Don't stay out past curfew, because the Lady is known to go on nighttime strolls and not return for hours." She turned to the painting. "Lunarious," the Fat Lady inclined her head slightly and the portrait swung open.

Everyone walked through and crowded around Lily and Remus. "This is the Gryffindor Common Room. The girl's staircase is upstairs to the left, the boys, the same on your right. Your luggage is by your beds. Goodnight."

Remus whispered to Lily, "Shouldn't they know that the boys can't…" Lily shook her head.

"It's a lesson they'll learn on their own." Remus groaned and rubbed his stomach.

"Ugh, I feel terrible."

"Don't worry," Lily smiled as they went up their separate staircases. "It'll all be better in the morning

A/N: I just realized that I should be doing this. I want to thank my friends, Luna, Ayame, and Night. And of course my loyal reviewers: Liadan Hurricane, believe-in-yourself4ever, Fluffy Puff Marshmellow and Fairy-GYAKUTENNO-MEGAMI. I hope for your sakes that I get new glasses and will be able to update quickly. And for anyone that likes Inu Yasha or would like to hear Japanese music, e-mail me by the end of June. One more thing: PLEASE REVIEW!


	7. Morning Rituals

"Better in the morning my arse," Remus muttered as he got out of bed. "My head is spinning like a bloody top!" Bleary eyed, he stumbled over to the window and threw it open. A bright Scottish morning greeted him. He got his clothes together and walked into the shower, wise enough not to wait until all the hot water was gone. He emerged ten minutes later, fully dressed and ready. He walked over to Frank's bed, from where mumblings of "Alice, Alice," were coming.

"Frank, mate, it's time to get up." Frank mumbled something else and got up, his eyes still half closed. Remus handed him a pair of earmuffs. Together, they went over and roused Peter. He looked in his dresser drawers for a pair of earmuffs but, finding none, grabbed a pillow. The trio then walked over to Remus's bed again and sat on it. Frank and Peter signaled to Remus, and he put on his own earplugs. The three took out their wands and cast a silencing charm around the bed. Remus waved his wand and muttered a few words neither of the other boys understood. Both Sirius' and James' beds began to shake violently.

Of course, the boys couldn't hear exactly what was making the noise, but it was the only thing that could get James and Sirius up in the mornings, so they reckoned it had to be pretty loud. Actually, they were quite wrong in thinking that only the mysterious sound would be enough in awaking James and Sirius. No, just a whisper of 'Wow, look at all that _food_,' or 'Wow, look at all those _naked girls_,' would be adequate to get Sirius up and out of his bed. For James, however, only the best would suffice. 'Wow, there's _Lily_.' Of course, that worked at any time of day.

In any case, the two boys in question were already up and running for the showers. "_Finite Incantatem_," Remus muttered, as Frank rubbed his eyes. Peter yawned and Frank climbed out of the bed, making his way to the showers, stopping off at his bed to put back the earmuffs. Remus removed his earplugs and Peter flung his pillow back onto his bed, leaving it a mess and followed Frank to the showers. Remus looked at Peter's bed in disapproval but refrained from saying anything. Hearing a scream pierce the air quickly followed by a dull thud, Remus hastened to the showers.

"Bloody hell!" cried Frank. There was a momentary pause and then the four boys that remained standing broke into raucous laughter. Sirius was on the floor, eyes screwed tightly shut.

"Sirius fainted!" Peter announced, and the boys began laughing again. Sirius opened one eye and sort of glared at Peter.

"Oy! I didn't _faint_. I fell out! And with good reason too!" Remus smirked.

"And what would that reason be?"

"Ask Potter," mumbled Sirius.

"Well Prongs?" asked Remus with mock curiosity.

James ran a hand through his hair, grinning widely. "I told him he had a split end."

The boys began to laugh uproariously again.

"Get a life Padfoot," muttered Peter as he stepped over Sirius' pathetic form.

Frank held out a hand to help Sirius up as Remus said to James, "You don't want to be late today Prongs. It's the first day of term and Lily-"

James ran into the nearest shower stall and a couple of minutes later, a rush of water sounded, joining the noise that Peter was making. Frank headed to another stall and, Sirius, realizing that Remus was already ready, dashed into another stall, yelling, "Oy! Don't hog all the hot water!"

"Too late!" replied Frank as Peter stepped out and into the dorm.

"Moony!"

Remus grabbed his schoolbag and ran out of the dorm, laughing to himself as the three boys in the showers shouted after him.

In the girl's dorm, things weren't too different. The earliest up was Jessica, a shy girl who mostly kept to herself. She took a shower and got dressed, then woke up Alice before heading down to the common room.

In turn, Alice awoke Lily, Lily roused Arabella, and Arabella jumped onto the bed of the fifth girl of their dorm. Connie Slates was probably the most energized thing at Hogwarts. She had a bubbly personality, but her one true fault was her mouth. On more than one occasion she'd gotten into trouble with either Filch or McGonagall because she couldn't quite keep her opinions to herself.

Sometimes Arabella wondered why they even bothered waking her up in the mornings.

"Up you get Connie!" Arabella sang as Lily and Alice went about their morning rituals. Connie sat straight up and pushed Arabella off of the bed. Arabella ran to collect her things and followed Lily and Alice into the bathrooms.

In the bathroom, however, things weren't going too smoothly.

"Who opened my eyeliner?"

"Where is my towel?"

"Mugnph!"

"Why are you using my shampoo?"

"Give me back my perfume!"

"Urgmuffin!"

"Ow! Pull your own damn hair!"

"What the hell!"

"I'm outta here!" (Incoherent mumbling continues as Lily knocks into Connie.)

"What went swimming in _your_ gene pool?" Connie asked the twins as she walked in on them fighting for the mirror.

Opting not to answer, they continued to shove each other while shouting obscenities.

Lily ran back into the bathrooms, school bag on shoulder and tie still undone. "Hey! You might want to hurry up if you plan on seeing what happened to the boys!" With that she ran out of the dorm, leaving Alice and Arabella positively wrestling to gain access to the mirror.

Lily and Remus met at the bottom of the staircase, both flushed with laughter at the state they'd left their room mates in. As expected, the sight of Remus only made Lily laugh harder. It was then that Remus remembered that James would want to know what Lily said the night before.

A/N: Okay! I will make sure that you find out what happened to the boys in the next chapter. You were supposed to find out in this chapter, but it didn't fit so I had to come up with this chapter off the top of my head. I got my glasses, so I'll update more quickly.

I don't know if you guys would be interested or not, but my friends and I are trying to get more people into Japanese culture, (Why? Because it's bloody COOL!) I have two songs that I could e-mail to anybody that's interested. Please take me up on this offer. The songs are 'Ai No Uta' by Every Little Thing and 'Shinjitsu No Uta' by Do As Infinity. Email me by the end of the month to let me know if you're interested.

Review Reply: Fairy-GYAKUTENNO-MEGAMI I know I love Yoda too.

Guys, Please R&R. No, it does not mean Read & Run! Thank You!


	8. The Prank That Started It All

By some miracle, the girls managed to finish getting ready and were out of the Common Room before the boys. As they headed down to the Great Hall, passing students noticed how much they were giggling. "Okay, so we all know the plan?" asked Lily. Alice and Arabella were about to reply when a voice reached them. "Wait up! I'm still in on it, right?" Tina came flying down the hall at lightning speed. And well, going at lightning speed she was unable to stop in time to avoid crashing into her friends.

The passing early birds of Hogwarts ignored the giggling quartet as best as they could by walking around the mass of limbs. "Yeah," groaned Arabella. "You're still in on it. Now would you get off of me?"

They stood up and straightened themselves out while Lily went over the finer details of the plan with Tina. "You know, I didn't think you three could come up with anything that good. That's a plan worthy of Slytherin."

"Thanks, but I'm not so sure I want to be an honorary member of Slytherin," said Alice.

Tina looked at her, shrugged and said "Suit yourself. I just want to do the next prank."

"What makes you think there'd be anymore pranks?" asked Alice.

"We are pranking the Marauders. The Kings of Pranks! Do you really think we're going to get away with this? They're boys! They _will _want revenge. They're going to try and prove that they're the more dominant sex." Tina gestured wildly with her hands, surprised that the others hadn't thought up anything other than the plan they were about to carry out.

"In any case," cut in Lily. "They're about to become a part of the smarter sex." The girls continued down to the Great Hall. As they were passing through the doors, all four muttered a charm under their breaths.

Tina sat with her friends at the Gryffindor table, ignoring the usual catcalls and hisses from her own table.

"You'd think they would've gotten lives by now," muttered Lily as she pulled a bowl of porridge towards her.

"Yeah, or at least someone to snog and occupy their time," whispered Alice, digging in to a bowl of cereal.

"Don't you mean girls to snog?" asked Arabella as she put syrup on her short stack of pancakes.

"Yeah, they're guys, but we don't know which way they swing, do we?" asked Tina reasonably. She and Alice high-fived over Arabella's head as Lily and Arabella snorted into their food.

Not long after that, the Gardiners came in and sat with the girls. Tina smiled at Robert to give him a little extra encouragement: he looked unsure of himself as he saw his housemates at the Slytherin table. He gave her a slight grin and returned to his breakfast.

"How's the prank on the boys going?" asked Michelle excitedly pouring herself some orange juice.

"You'll see in a couple of minutes," grinned Lily.

"What's taking the boys so long?" muttered Alice.

"The prank has already taken effect," said Tina.

"It must've. The boys never take this long to come down," said Lily.

"Yeah, they're always harping on to us about how _we_ take forever…" Arabella trailed off and the girls grinned at each other.

Suddenly, the doors to the Great Hall opened and the Marauders trailed in, single-file. First came Peter, who looked unaware of well, anything. Then Remus (A/N: Sorry, I had to do it to Remus too.) who was scanning the table for empty seats. James followed him, scanning the table for Lily. Sirius entered last: he was trying to chat up a Huffelpuff fourth year.

Suddenly, the Huffelpuff let out a shriek and ran to her table. Her scream attracted the attention of everyone in the Great Hall and they all looked to the entrance.

For a moment, everyone was silent. Then, five girls at the Gryffindor table burst out laughing. The Slytherins started next: their laughter was barely heard amongst the catcalls and jeers. Then the rest of the students erupted. The staff did their best not to laugh and looked to their Headmaster. Dumbledore, eyes twinkling merrily, let out a chuckle and everyone else let loose.

Peter became aware that everyone in the Hall was laughing at him and squeaked in fright then tried to cower behind his friends.

Remus spotted the four girls and saw that they were laughing the hardest of all. He swallowed hard. If the girls were responsible, he knew that what happened to the four of them was bad. He looked back at James and Sirius and saw two girls standing behind him with blank expressions. 'That's them,' he thought, turning around. 'Wait!' he thought, whipping back around. 'If they're girls, then I…' Remus reached up to touch his hair. He followed the length and his eyes widened when his hand stopped in the middle of his back. He closed his eyes and took a deep steadying breath to calm himself. He _knew_ not to take Lily and her friends lightly! He stood there, silently deliberating about what to do. He was hungry, and some little prank wasn't going to stop him from eating breakfast! Even though that little prank had turned him into a girl.

"Remus is coming this way!" Alice alerted the girls. They all returned to their breakfasts with renewed vigor. He sat down as Peter scurried out of the Hall.

Remus pulled a bowl of porridge towards him and began to eat in silence. James and Sirius followed the suit. The five girls stared across the table at them as the laughter in the Hall died down some.

"So," said Tina with a grin. "You new here?"

That set everyone within hearing distance into gales of laughter again. Their laughter triggered the laughter of everyone else in the Hall. A slight blush crept up the guys' cheeks, making them look very _pretty_ indeed.

"Because, you know, I know three guys that would go completely ga-ga over you three." Lily offered.

"Particularly one she's quite keen to get off her back." Arabella stage whispered.

Suddenly, Michelle piped up with a suggestion that made five guys at the Gryffindor table look sick.

"I could set you up with my brothers. You wouldn't mind robbing the cradle, would you?"

"You little-!" Sirius said indignantly, voice sounding a bit weird when combined with the feminine body.

"Ooh, you're feisty! Daniel would love you!"

James laughed loudly, banging his fist on the table.

"And a girl with a good sense of humor! Robert would adore you!" Michelle, Lily, Tina, Arabella, and Alice nearly fell off of the benches as the four boys struggled to form words and not hurl at the same time.

The rest of breakfast passed fairly quickly, but the oddest part was when they were nearing the end of breakfast and Andromeda walked over to the Gryffindor table. Lily had subconsciously officially decided that she liked her.

"Evans," Andromeda acknowledged a slight smile on her face.

Lily nodded to show that she had her attention.

Andromeda opened her mouth slightly to continue, but a sullen voice rang out across the Hall. "Black!" Malfoy shouted. Andromeda turned her head, took in the image of Lucius calling her and sighed heavily.

"Shall I meet you for lunch?" Lily offered politely.

Andromeda nodded and tugged on James' and Sirius' newly acquired hair extensions said "Girls," and walked out of the Hall.

"What the hell was that all about?" asked Arabella.

"No bloody clue," her twin answered.

Lucius walked past them muttering "Ladies, Traitor, Mudblood," loud enough for them to hear and followed Andromeda out of the Hall.

"Conceited pompous arsehole," Lily and Tina shot back in unison.

A/N: I know, I haven't updated in a while, but things are getting hectic. I had writers block so I came up with a Draco/Ginny one- shot called 'It's All In 3-D'. I'm posting it soon, maybe sometime next week. I know it's a pain in the ass, but please read and review. I really want to know what people think of my story (my friends and family won't tell me the truth).

Review Reply: Fairy-GYAKUTENNO-MEGAMI Thanks for reading then reviewing, now keep on running!


	9. The First Day Of Classes

"Black!" Lucius was screaming in Andromeda's face.

"What?" she spat in his.

"What on earth were you doing talking to that filth?" He glared at Lily, Tina, Alice, and Arabella as they passed.

"It's my business," Andromeda sneered, turning away.

Lucius grabbed her roughly by the shoulder and turned her around. "Your business is my business," he snarled.

"Really? I wasn't aware of that. Don't touch me, Malfoy."

Lucius slapped her so hard that the sound of it ricocheted off of the walls. Andromeda dropped her books and whipped out her wand. He eyed it warily.

"If you lay another of your filthy little inbred hands on me again," she began, her eyes becoming a milky white and her hair flying around her face wildly. She backed him into a corner and a few stones hit the wall above his head. Lucius winced.

"I will tear something _very_ dear to you away." She looked down slightly. "I don't care if it is attached to your body or not." Now Lucius was visibly quaking.

Andromeda lowered her wand, changed her features back to normal, and smirked. "Better get going Malfoy," she said lightly, gathering her books. "After all, we wouldn't want you to be late to your first lesson of the year, would we?"

A couple of First Year Huffelpuffs passed by Lucius, talking and laughing. "And the Prefects say that we have to be cautious because he's dangerous? I think I'll save my respect for the girl." Her friend laughed and nodded in her assessment.

Lucius roared at the pair, taking out his wand. They started laughing again. The first girl took out her wand. "See? I have one too. Next time, think about using yours." She and her friend smirked again before hurrying into the Transfiguration room just as the bell rang.



Lily walked as quickly as she could towards the base of the North Tower, on her way to Divination. She was cutting time dangerously close and, to make matters worse, had James on her tail. She wished that she had enough sense to make the prank last even after they left the Great Hall.

For every time the boys entered the Hall, they would become women. The girls had already spoken with the elves in the kitchen and were guaranteed that none of the boys would receive food from there.

Still, Lily wished that James was still a girl. Then he'd be in the bathrooms trying to figure out how to undo the prank.

Unfortunately, James was a boy until lunch and being that boy, was a huge pain.

"Say Evans, d'you know how lucky you are?" he asked, running a hand through his hair.

Lily resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "No Potter. Tell me, just how lucky am I?"

He grinned. "You've got the opportunity to come to Hogsmeade with me."

This time, Lily did roll her eyes. "I guess I am pretty lucky. Too bad I'm not taking you up on that offer."

She walked faster, nearly breaking into a run. James continued his pace, walking in step with Lily, without all of her effort. 'Hang his long legs!' she thought, just about ready to hang _him_.

"Well how about tonight we-"

"No."

"Would you like to-"

"No."

"Can I-"

"No."

"Would you at least let me finish one sentence?" he asked, a twinge of annoyance evident in his voice.

Lily stopped short and turned around to face him. Well, his chest, really. She looked up, obviously disgusted with what she saw. (A/N: Why? James is HOT!) "Did you just not?" She turned on flounced off.

'He's one of the smartest boys in our year,' she thought, thoroughly irritated. 'Why can everyone see that I don't like him _except _him?'

Meanwhile, James was staring, transfixed, at her as she walked off. He shook his head and sauntered up next to her. "Aw come on Evans. Why won't you go out with me?" They were at the bottom of the staircase now. Lily kept walking as she began to answer.

"I told you over and over again last year. You might have to wait a while for it to penetrate your thick skull. Come back in a year to tell me."

James, who was quite used to Lily's rudeness, continued to follow her. "Ouch Lily, that really hurt."

"You have no right to call me-" she was cut off suddenly. Lily, being so distracted, had managed to forget to jump the trick step, something Peter frequently did. (A/N: Ooh! _Not_ a nice comparison.) James stooped down to help her up but was pushed away. "Forget about me!" she cried exasperatedly. "My books!"

James _Accioed_ Lily's books, which happened to be zooming down the stairs joyously. He turned back to Lily, who had already extracted herself from the stair. Suddenly the bell rang. Lily jumped, but James didn't move. He was staring at her leg. Lily looked down and saw blood flowing freely from it.

"Great," she muttered, still staring at the gash that extended from her upper calf to lower thigh. "Just what I needed." She continued to look down at it until she heard James say something.

"What?"

"I said we need to get you to the Hospital Wing," James repeated, shrinking her books.

"No," said Lily stubbornly, but without real conviction.

James sighed and pointed his wand at Lily's leg. He muttered the spell to stop blood flow and picked her up. "Don't make me Stun you. If you start moving around, I'll have to."

Lily nodded and put her arms around his neck. They started back down the stairs and Lily Concealed the wound. "I don't like the sight of blood," she explained.

"What are you two doing in the corridor during class?"

James sighed heavily and turned around to face Filch, the new caretaker. He wasn't too eager to be holding a conversation.

"I'm taking her to the Hospital Wing," he said clearly and slowly.

Filch looked at Lily, who started blushing when she realized how it must look to Filch. He was too new to know about Lily's extreme dislike towards James.

"Somehow, I doubt it," said Filch. "I don't see a cut, blood, any evidence of a wound."

"I Concealed it because I get nauseous at the sight of blood," Lily explained, just as clearly and slowly as James had.

_"Concealed it because you get nauseous at the sight of blood!"_ the caretaker scoffed. "Just go on. Hopefully McGonagall or Dumbledore'll catch you two before you end up in a closet."

Lily glared at him as he turned and limped away, muttering something about "Teenagers."

A/N: Filch has a rather dirty mind, don't you think? Lucius is a coward, don't you find? I know I was acting like a complete and total idiot in this chapter, but I was babysitting my little sister! That in itself should be reason enough for my random moments of insanity.

Review Replies: I'm sorry to both believe-in-yourself4ever and Fairy-GYAKUTENNO-MEGAMI. I got your reviews mixed up. I won't do it again, I promise!

**Dodges flying chair** I said sorry!

believe-in-yourself4ever Thanks, I never realized anyone thought I was funny!

Fairy-GYAKUTENNO-MEGAMI Thanks, and be glad that you don't have to pay money to see it!

Has anyone finished HBP? If so, what did you think? I finished it in ten hours and I swear I was crying like a baby towards the end!


	10. Confessions In A Hospital Wing

James rushed into the Hospital Wing, Lily still in his arms, yelling for the new nurse, Madame Pomfrey. She came rushing out of her office, saw James and Lily, slowed, and smiled. Lily took that time to reveal the gash.

"What can I do for you, Prongs?" she asked, glancing at Lily confusedly.

He gestured at Lily with his head. "She needs help."

Madame Pomfrey suddenly turned brisk and business- like. She conjured a notepad. "Name, House, and Year," loading a quill with the ink she'd just conjured.

"Lily Evans, Gryffindor, Fifth," replied Lily in much the same manner. Pomfrey consulted the notepad and made a connection.

"What's your connection to each other?"

Lily glared up at James, clearly telling him that she would kill him if he did what she knew he was going to do.

He did it anyway.

"She's my girlfriend."

Lily visibly stiffened and glared at James harder.

"She's really in pain, and she might have splinters. She fell through a trick step. Shouldn't she be lying down? I think she'd appreciate lying down." James continued to ramble on, trying not to meet Lily's eyes.

Her beautiful, clear, strikingly green eyes.

James knew that even though Lily was mad at him and trying to bore holes into his head with her eyes, she was vulnerable. He _never_ got to see Lily vulnerable. She was always shouting at him or scoffing at his many attempts to ask her out. She was always, calm, cool, collected, and in charge. Not even a flicker of uncertainty ever passed her eyes.

Not until now.

He knew Lily hated showing her actual feelings around others than the precious few that were extremely close friends and family. She was always one to retreat into a dark corner and spend hours just thinking. But she never let on to what she thought about. James knew all too well how much Lily hated pity. That was one of the reasons that she despised every aspect of her vulnerability.

James loved it.

He was shaken out of his reverie by Madame Pomfrey tutting loudly. She was saying something to Lily that James only caught the last part of.

"…serious, but you'll have to stay the night."

She gave Lily three bottles, one with a gold potion, one filled with a blue liquid, the other containing a purple one.

"It's no use picking them out the Muggle way. Take the blue one first. That'll stop you from feeling any pain in your leg. Immediately after that drink ALL of the gold one. You'll bleed the splinters out overnight. Then, when you're ready, take the dreamless sleep potion.

"Mr. Potter-"

"Please Poppy?"

James gave Madame Pomfrey puppy-eyes for a full minute before she relented. "Fine, you can stay. But for 15 minutes ONLY!" she called before locking herself in her office.

Looking back on the situation, James wondered why he even asked to stay with Lily. He settled on the idea that he probably thought that she was going to fly into his arms and consent to being his girlfriend.

No one had ever been more wrong.

For a few seconds, Lily just stared at James, opening and closing her mouth, evidently trying to find the words to properly convey her ideas. James knew at once that there was an incredibly slim chance of him surviving the fifteen minutes that they were left alone with. James prayed to fate and every higher being that Lily would just fall asleep from the potions she'd take.

Apparently, fate and the higher beings did not want to favor James.

"You ignorant prat! All you had to do was follow your friends up to divination! But that was too complicated for you, wasn't it? When will you get it thought your head that I do not like you, James Potter?"

She looked down at her leg. "Look where your antics have gotten us, James. We missed our first class, Filch probably told Dumbledore about seeing us in the hall, and I have a hole in my leg. James, this has absolutely got to stop. You've been after me since third year: probably when you found out that I was a girl," she added bitterly.

"What about First and Second Year, James?" What about when the eight of us were all really good friends? Can't you just think about us having a friendship first?"

James opened his mouth to say something, but Lily held up a hand: she wasn't finished.

"You have to stop. Stop following me around, creeping up to my dorm, asking me out at every turn. It needs to stop- James _you_ need to stop. It would be so easy for us to become friends again. If I did, or- Merlin forbid- ever will like you as more than a friend, I'll let you know."

James nodded, knowing that Lily had finished. He turned to leave, when he felt her tugging on his hand. He looked at her. She was about to drift off, but seemed determined to get the words out.

"Do you promise?" she whispered. He nodded and she smiled slightly, letting go of his hand.

As he closed the door to the Wing, James made a resolve. Leaning against the door, he said "You'll know soon, Lily Evans. When you find out, I just hope that you'll tell me."


	11. The Boys Take A Swim

Over the next few weeks, everyone Fifth Year and under steered clear of the Gryffindor Fifth Years. (Tina is an honorary Gryffindor) After the gender mix-up (which, to the girl's surprise and delight, happened to make itself known for every meal for the rest of the week) there was a lesson in Greek Mythology.

Evidently, Sirius made a crack about Tina's hair and she gave him a glare that could've frozen hell twice over. (A/N: Yes, it was _that_ cold.) James had claimed to see the true Slytherin rear its snake-like head and gave Tina a hair style that could rival Medusa's.

Tina, who could take a joke better than any of her friends, whipped out her wand and aimed a rather nasty hex at James. He dodged it at the last moment, leaving a shocked and (A/N: what else?) confused Peter Pettigrew in its path.

It took some time for the boys to figure out how to turn Peter back into a human.

The girls knew that Sirius and James were just fooling around and decided that they would let Tina control the more well thought out pranks and Arabella, Alice, and Lily would take the more common matters into their own hands.

A couple days later, the Marauders were walking around the grounds when Remus spotted Lily by the big tree by the lake. Their tree. Lily was doing her homework. Alone. By herself. Solitarily. (A/N: I think you get my point.)

Remus pointed her out to Sirius and Peter because James had Lily- radar and was half way over to the tree already. They flopped down next to her with James and Sirius on her right, Remus and Peter on her left. Lily looked up at them, took note of their presence, rolled her eyes and went back to her homework.

"Hey Evans," said Sirius as he pushed James slightly, making him knock into Lily. She crossed out where she had messed up and continued writing. James glared at him as Lily replied.

"Black," she muttered, tossing her hair impatiently.

"Hi Lily," said Remus.

She still didn't look up from her work. "Hi Remus," she replied in a much lighter tone than the one she used to greet Sirius. The boys shared a look over Lily's head, Sirius raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"So Flower," James began slowly.

"That's not my name. My name is Lily, or in your case, Evans. And before you ask, the answer is no."

There were a few moments silence in which the Marauders shared another look over Lily's head.

"Who would you say yes to Flower?" asked Sirius.

"That's my business," she replied shortly.

"Flower, it's not Moony, is it? Please, I don't think Prongs could bear it if his best mate got the girl he's been pinning for."

His comment was rewarded with a heavy glare from Remus, a shove from James, and probably the most embarrassing thing that'd ever happened to him at Hogwarts. (Courtesy of Lily.)

"You've just touched a nerve, Black. Don't do as much as breathe near it again."

"What will you do if he does?" asked Peter, a little too eagerly.

Lily turned to look at him slowly. "Would you like to find out first hand?" she asked dangerously, fingering her wand.

The eager look on Peter's face seemed to fall off entirely. A sudden rustling was heard over head and a stone dropped and hit Peter square in the head. Remus leaned forward to pick it up and examined it closely. He looked up into the branches curiously.

"Probably a really violent bird," said James dismissively.

"Right…" said Remus, clearly unconvinced. He stood up hastily. "I just remembered. Unfinished Potions assignment. Gotta go. I'll um, see you later." Remus walked quickly to the castle doors and out of sight.

Upon entering the Common Room, he found two Seventh Years in a very compromising position. He took a moment to smirk at them before tearing up to his room. He headed straight for the window next to his bed and conjured a chair. He grinned to himself while observing the scene that was taking place by the lake.



"Why are you here Black?" Lily asked, grinding her teeth against the impulse to grind _him_ into a million pieces. James ran a hand through his already windblown hair. Peter had left a little while after Remus to join the other students by the lake.

Sirius continued to grin at Lily. "Well, on my eleventh birthday-" he began. James rolled his eyes and stole a glance at Lily. 'Merlin, she's beautiful,' he thought. He was jerked out of his daydream by the sudden silence in the air.

He looked round at Sirius, who had his mouth wide open and hands around his throat. He then looked over at Lily, who was smiling smugly as she put her schoolwork into her schoolbag.

She turned to James, who was now laughing so hard that there were tears streaming down his face. They both stood up.

"You think that's funny, do you?" She smiled at him coyly. Pressing her body against his, she backed him up. "Well I know of something even funnier," she whispered in his ear. She a shiver run through his body. 'James, you're too easy,' she thought triumphantly.

"What's that?" he asked in a low voice. Lily suppressed a shiver, surprised that he could have an effect on her. She walked him back a few feet closer to the lake.

Putting her mouth right next to his ear, she muttered "This." Using all her strength she pushed him backwards. Backwards, however, happened to be into the lake.

As James' head emerged, he saw Lily laughing and Sirius on the ground next to her, bound by ropes. Alice, Arabella, and Tina emerged from their hiding places; the tree, mixed in with others by the lake, and behind Hagrid's hut respectively.

The four girls pointed their wands at a very scared Sirius and Levitated him into the air and simultaneously, dropped their wands. Sirius, a hundred feet above the lake, had about a second to admire the view before plunging down into the middle of the lake. The instant he splashed into the water, the ropes disappeared and his voice came back. He swam towards the shore and straightened up, shaking his hair out of his eyes.

"Jeez, is it PMS week, or something?" he asked James as they wrung out their robes. The girls turned around and walked back to the castle, laughing loudly.

"They have given the saying 'Go jump in a lake' a whole new meaning!" they heard Lily say.

Turning to James, whose hair was sticking up in even more directions than usual, Sirius said "Couldn't you pick a girl to fall in love with that_ wasn't_ insane?"

A/N: You know, I'm getting the distinct impression that you guys like this story. I mean, I've got over 600 hits! Okay, down to business.

Review Replies for Chapter Nine

Fairy-GYAKUTENNO-MEGAMI _well you are funny.. wait did i get things mixed up? oh boy... lol anywhoo graet chappie and yes i finished HBP and i was crying at the end! did you?_

Thanks! I was crying. Good-bye to that particular character. (I don't want to spoil it for anyone that hasn't finished yet.)

babi-gurl8907 _Cool story! When is the Lily and James romance gonna start?_

Honestly, I'm not sure. I'm going to have them in a few 'situations' together, but Lily is quite stubborn and she can't fall for James that quickly.

hpluvas _i really like your stile and i like the book so far. and i know that making longer chapters would take more time but could you mabe make them longer abyway?)_

Well, I could try…-

Review Replies for Chapter Ten

Fairy-GYAKUTENNO-MEGAMI _great chappie!_

Thanks!

believe-in-yourself4ever _aww...how sad. Lol, and yes, you are funny. Congrads! I loved it. The ending was just perfect. The next chapters are going to be great. Best Wishes! and its okay...mixing up are reviews didn't kill anybody? -akward slience- Or did it:P_

Thank you! My reviewers are okay so…-

Sevetenks the Ultimate F _Poor James._

I know, but you'll be saying that a lot in this story! Evil Konny!

hpluvas _O SCREW LONGER CHAPTERS GIVE ME THE 11TH I DONT CARE IF ITS 13 LINES LONG! UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE  
ALYSSA_

Wow, I guess I can't skip out on updating anymore! (Aww! I _liked_ being irresponsible!) I can guarantee you that the next chapter will be more than 13 lines long! Well Alyssa, here it is! Just review and tell me if you liked it! (Author crosses fingers behind her back hopefully.)

That goes for the rest of you guys too! Now I have bad news. I'm going back to school on Monday, the first. I know, it sucks! I will, however, be keeping up with this story. I plan on updating every Friday from now on so, just keep reviewing and I'll have the initiative to keep up! See ya next week!

Konny


	12. Andromeda's Warning

At lunch that afternoon, Lily was approached again by Andromeda. Tina was the only of her friends in the Great Hall and the three of them took their seats at the Slytherin table, much to Lily's chagrin. Regardless of her lack of patience for most of Slytherin, Lily knew that they couldn't sit at the Gryffindor table. James and Sirius were sure to be seeking revenge for the little episode by the lake.

She watched as they walked into the Hall; relatively dry, but their hair still damp. 'Oh yeah,' she thought dryly. 'They'd really take kindly to us sitting with them.' She smiled a bit as she recalled what had passed earlier between the two groups. James looked around the Hall and blanched upon seeing Lily and Tina sitting with Andromeda at the Slytherin table. It took her a split second to realize that she had been caught staring at him. She hid her blush by turning to Andromeda and asking why she needed to speak with her.

Andromeda actually looked a bit uneasy. "What do you say we move away from _them_ before I say anything?" she asked, glancing over at the other Slytherins with a look of disdain when she said _them_.

Lily and Tina were taken aback at the amount of venom in Andromeda's voice when she regarded her fellow housemates. "Um…sure," Lily consented.

The three girls left the Great Hall, standing just outside the entrance doors. Tina sat on the grass, Indian-style, Lily leaned against the stone wall, and Andromeda stood in front of both of them, posture erect.

"I take it you both have heard of this new dark lord that is rising?" she asked. Lily and Tina nodded, already beginning to suspect the worst. "Well, he isn't just some imitation. He is not someone to be trifled with. You've noticed the deaths reported in the Prophet, right?" Without waiting for an answer, she went on.

"Those aren't even half of the murders. All the others the Ministry tends to classify as 'missing', 'suicide', or 'accidental'. I'd accept that too, if it weren't for the fact that my aunt and uncle support this arse and his single-minded ideas and because I've noticed a pattern in the murders."

Lily slid down the stone wall as Tina leaned forward eagerly. "What patterns?" she breathed.

"The witches and wizards that were murdered were either Muggle-born, married to a Muggle, or were blatantly against this 'Lord Voldemort' and his ideals." Andromeda glanced over at Lily as she said it.

Lily lifted her head out of her knees and smiled forlornly. "Well, I guess there'll always be prejudice in the world, won't there? Thanks for warning me, Andromeda. I'm just not sure about what I should do now."

Tina leaned over and hugged her tightly. "You are going to come back into the Great Hall with us and eat ALL of your food. Trust me Lils; I will force-feed you if I have to."

Lily smiled a small smile that did reach her eyes. "Somehow, I wouldn't doubt that."

Andromeda extended both of her hands to help them up. "Let's go back and eat. Get your mind off of things."

Lily consented. "I think I will need to see Dumbledore later, though." Her companions nodded as the walked back inside.

James and Sirius ran up to her. "Whatcha doing, Flower?" James asked, running a hand through his hair.

Lily sighed, "I was _trying_ to enjoy the rest of my day without having to resort to humiliating you two again." She walked over to the Slytherin table, but James stood in front of her.

"Wait, where are you going? You're a Gryffindor, remember?" Lily pushed past him.

"Shut up," she called to him, catching up with Tina and Andromeda.

Sirius came up next to James, a red handprint displayed proudly on his cheek. "So…now what are you going to do?"

James looked at him, fear quite evident in his eyes. "I'm going to find somewhere to hide before she kills me!"

"Good idea," said Sirius. "Let's go!" The two boys tore out of the Hall, not too willing to bask in the glory of another prank on the Slytherins.

"What did Potter want, Lils?" asked Tina concernedly as they sat at the Slytherin table.

"Just being an arse again, nothing important," said Lily, waving it off lightly. She looked around the Hall, sure to catch James staring at her, but he wasn't there. Neither was Sirius. Suddenly, Lily saw everyone at the Slytherin table except for herself, Tina, and Arabella transform into pink bunny rabbits. She closed her eyes and shook her head. When she opened them, she saw Tina and Andromeda looking at her concernedly.

Lily frowned. Then suddenly, she knew. The food appeared on the Slytherin table and everyone began to eat. Lily held Andromeda and Tina back. "Wait a minute…" she trailed off and there was a loud popping noise. Suddenly, the three girls were surrounded by fluffy pink bunnies. Tina giggled and walked over to the one that happened to be Severus Snape and cuddled it.

"Isn't he so _cute_?" she asked, openly gushing. Andromeda walked over to Lucius and picked him up. If bunnies could glare, the bunny's eye would have been twitching.

"This is an improvement," Andromeda declared openly as the rest of the Hall took note of the 'new and improved' Slytherin students and started laughing.

Lily stood up and everyone quieted down, even the staff. Her face was tinged a dark pink and she looked fit to burst. "POTTER!" she screamed. She stalked out of the doors and everyone heard her yelling down the Hall.

"YOU ARROGANT, CONCIETED, BIG- HEADED …" her yells died down after a while and everyone started talking again.

Up at the staff table, Dumbledore turned to McGonagall. "Been a bit too long since Mr. Potter has been in trouble with Miss. Evans, hasn't it?"

"Too right it has," muttered McGonagall.

A/N: I know! I was supposed to update _last_ week. My school is in disarray right now. They screwed up my schedule and gave me two math classes. Algebra 1 and Geometry. _Geometry! _Now, I have a free period where all I do is go to some teacher's room and fool around on the computer. They have to fix my schedule and I bet they're going to put me in dance again. Thank Merlin this is my last year at Norland! As you can see, I'm trying a hand at the double updates every other week. Please bear with me. I didn't like this chapter too much. I only wrote it because I needed Andromeda to warn Lily. Anyway,

Review Replies

hpluvas lol. i know i sed to screw long chapters but this is insane...on the other hand you did update quick...on the OTHER hand it IS short... oh well update soon.

Alyssa

_Yeah, so sue me! No! I'm kidding, please don't! Cowers in fear of lawyers (_

Fairy-GYAKUTENNO-MEGAMI OMG how could i not cry! i mean i was sobbing... my mom was like its just a book and i could only say you don't get it... great chappie! i loved the lake thing and the medusa thing that was priceless!

_I know how you feel! Thanks, it took me ages to get those scenes down! -_

believe-in-yourself4ever ah wow! Poor James :sniff: He still won't give up on her though. He never will. I can't wiat for the next chapter. Very nice. You had better hurry up and update or I will sick my mutated paperclip on you. :laughs evily:

_Please! Not the mutilated paper clip! Anything but that! _


	13. Lily's Vision

A month later, nighttime found Lily tossing and turning in her sleep. She was dreaming very vividly, and there was a searing pain in her forehead. She was having another vision. This one in particular happened to be about a boy she was very familiar with. She viewed the scene from an outer, unknown position. She thrashed about desperately, trying to wake up.

_"Harry, I know you're in there," came a soft female voice._ Lily relaxed slightly in her sleep. The pain in her forehead lessened and she knew that she couldn't fight her way out of the vision. She'd often dreamt of this boy. He was only eleven, twelve at most.

As Harry got up to open the door, Lily felt herself switching perspectives. _'That's odd,'_ she thought. _'That's never happened before.'_

Looking through the girl's eyes, Lily found herself face-to-face with a boy around her own age. He had messy jet black hair, startling green eyes, and a thin lightning bolt scar on his forehead. That was her child, she knew. His other features looked familiar, but she couldn't tell exactly who he looked like.

And it was annoying the crap out of her.

_Harry looked sullenly at her. "How did you know I was in here Hermione?" he asked. She pushed past him and into the room. _

_"Intuition," she said shortly. _Looking at Harry again, Lily-Hermione noticed how much older he'd gotten.

_"Hermione," said Harry irritably, (sp?) running a hand through his hair, giving Lily an odd sense of De Ja Vou. "Why are you here? Maybe you don't know what could be going on with me? Maybe you haven't seen the others yet?" _

_Hermione-Lily stood still and glared at Harry coldly. _Lily felt anger rush through her veins, a shocking difference to the curiosity that was burning in her actual being._ "Maybe you don't know that there are actually people that want to help you. Maybe you haven't been to see the others! Maybe one day you'll understand that you are not alone in this." Harry looked up at her and opened his mouth to say something. _

At that moment, Lily felt a pain shoot across forehead and saw Harry fall to the floor, withering in agony. Lily began to cry out in pain as the vision was snatched away from her.

She came back to reality, the aftermath of the pain in her forehead had barely lessened, and she was full of a frustrated curiosity. The curtains of her canopy bed were ripped open and Lily could hear Alice fumbling around in the dark. Lily's breath was coming in raggedly in between the sobs.

Alice found her way over to Lily, made her sit up slightly, and then lay down again, her head on a pillow that was residing in Alice's lap. After a few minutes, Lily's sobs subsided and her breathing became normal. A little while later, Alice stopped stroking Lily's hair and squinted down at her. "Do you want to tell me tonight, or can it wait until morning?"

Lily hugged her friend and put her pillow back on the bed. "Morning," she mumbled, lying down again.

Alice went back to her bed, al the while wondering why nothing good ever really happened to Lily. "What's Lily ever done to anyone? Nothing. She's got a hateful older sister that constantly puts her down, she's treated like dirt by most of the Slytherins, she's got this horrible "Gift" that keeps her up nearly every night, and James Potter is after her. How horrible is her life going to get? With all the good she's done, you'd think that she'd get a break." Alice shook her head as she climbed into bed.

A/N: Wow. Poor Lily. Alice is right. Do you guys think that I should make Lily's life a bit more bearable? Or do you want her to go through hell for a bit longer? You guys have two weeks to vote!


	14. Remus And Lily

Early the next morning, Lily confided in her friends. They all sat on Arabella's bed, legs crossed, doing each other's hair and fooling around with useless makeup. Lily opened her mouth to start what she thought was going to be a very long conversation.

"Guys, I know that Alice already told you that I had another nightmare last night." Her friends nodded, all looking slightly guilty. "Good. Because that makes what I have to explain a whole lot easier." Their expressions switched from guilty to curious in an instant, though none as quickly as Tina, who looked very out of place in her silk green and silver pajamas. "Well, none of you know the entire story. Alice knows that I have some kind of "Gift", but she gathered that on her own. Do you remember the 'bed-wetting incident' in third year?"

Lily'd hoped that this would trigger some kind of light feeling to come over the group, but they all just nodded slowly and waited for her to continue. "That was really a vision. I guess I that I should have told you then instead of screaming for Dumbledore, but I've got to tell you now. I'm a Seer."

Complete and utter silence followed this announcement. Lily continued. "This vision I had though, it wasn't normal. Not for a first-time Seer, in any case. I saw…myself. I look about twenty or so. I'm holding the most beautiful baby boy in my arms, and I look happy. There's this issue with the baby though. He has my eyes, but that's it. He looks almost exactly like someone we know, but I can never remember who."

"Hold on for one minute," interrupted Tina whose hair was now scarlet and gold, clashing horribly with her nightwear. "What do you mean, the baby looks almost exactly like someone that we know, but you can never remember who?"

"Just that. I never remember names until they're said. Except my son's. His name is Harry." Lily looked around and, satisfied that her friends knew enough, continued. "I had another vision last night, but this one was on a different scale. The boy- Harry was a lot older. About 15, our age I guess. I saw the vision from two different perspectives. His and his friend Hermione's.

"When I was seeing from Harry's view, I only saw the room he was in. It was quite dark, and Harry was leaning against a wall. He seemed depressed. Then there was a knock on the door and a girl's- Hermione's voice said 'I know you're in there.' Harry got up to open the door and then I switched to Hermione's point of view. They had an argument. It was like Harry was avoiding his other friends because of something that they'd heard earlier. Hermione'd only just arrived and was trying to sort out everything between them and get them on some kind of level ground."

Tina, whose p.j.'s were now matching her hair, said "You got all of that from a vision?" Lily turned to her, a slight fear in her emerald eyes.

"No," she whispered, shaking her head slightly. "I gathered all of that just now." She felt her eyes fill up.

'Why am I crying?' she thought confusedly. She got off of Arabella's bed and put on her robe and slippers. "I'm going down to the Common Room. I really need to think about this." She left the room, leaving her friends in a stunned silence.

Descending the staircase slowly, Lily listened for any signs of life, human or otherwise. Hearing none, she continued her leisurely stroll down the steps. She quickly walked over to the chairs by the window, hoping to watch the sunrise. She plopped down into the nearest chair nosily.

"You're an early bird too, huh?" Lily's heart skipped a beat, but no shock registered itself on her face.

"Hey Remus," she said, turning to face him. "What are _you_ doing up this early?"

"I'll tell you if you'll tell me," he said, turning to face Lily as well.

She sighed and swung her legs over one of the arms of the chair, slouching a bit. "Well Dr. Lupin," she began, looking straight into Remus' clear blue eyes. As Lily began her story, Remus began playing with her slippers. Every so often she'd kick at him in an effort to get him to stop, but Remus was very adamant in his new game.

When she'd finished, Remus looked up from her feet and, realizing it was his turn, began his story. It turned out to be nothing more than one of his roommates was talking in his sleep about the girl he liked again and, due to the fact that his other three roommates slept like logs, only Remus was driven to the brink of insanity.

When he was done, Lily got up and went over to 'comfort' him. She pushed him off of the chair and jumped onto him tickling him. He looked shocked for a moment, but started squirming in efforts to get Lily off of him. "What…why…"

"This is payback for what you, James, and Sirius did to me on the first night back!" Lily yelled joyfully.

"That's not fair!" he yelled back. "You should punish them too!"

Lily stopped and looked thoughtful for a moment. "You're right. Oh well. You're the closest!" With that she pounced on him again, and the tickle fight turned into a tickle war. "Remus Lupin!" Lily screamed when he pinned both of her arms behind her back.

"I demand a truce," he said quietly, still slightly out of breath. Lily glared at him before muttering a sullen "Fine."

Suddenly, the first trickle of students came down for breakfast.

"We should set a date to do this again," Lily whispered as they watched everyone pass by.

"Speaking of dates," began Remus as they got up and dusted themselves off. "Would you do me the honor of allowing me to be your escort to the Halloween Ball?" he asked formally.

"Wow Mr. Lupin, you sure know how to make a girl feel special. Of course!"

Remus grinned as he stood up from his mock bow. "Now, to bed with us!" he said.

"Not the same one, I hope?" said Lily. Remus looked shocked by the very idea.

"Miss. Evans! Calm yourself! There'll be plenty of time for that later!" Remus muttered the last part in an undertone.

"Later Remus!" Lily called as she ran up her staircase.

"Till then Lils," he called back as he went up his.

Both were oblivious to the crowd of Gryffindors that were watching them with interest and the boy that was watching them with jealousy burning in him.

James Potter slipped into his room and into his bed with startling stealth and ease. He whipped the curtains around his four-poster bed and flopped down onto his bed. Remus and…Lily. _Remus and Lily. _The words were burned into his mind over and over again. He sighed heavily.

_'What does Remus have that I don't? We both play Quidditch, most of the female population of Hogwarts is in love with one of us, we both get good grades, we're both good friends, and together we make up half of the Marauders. I don't get it. Why does she like _him_ and hate me? What's it about Remus that makes even girls like Lily Evans go head over heels?_

His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of the dorm door opening and closing. Remus wasn't even making an effort to be quiet. James started snoring and put his glasses on the desk next to him quietly.

Remus shook his head. He heard James shift in his bed and the delicate sound of metal hitting wood. Then he noticed the tune of the snoring. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and walked over to the bed. He ripped the hangings open and said "James. Up. Now." James rolled over and glared at Remus, not even bothering to feign sleep anymore.

"What?" he snarled.

Remus didn't look too surprised at the venom in James' voice. "I need you to know who I'm taking to the Halloween Ball."

"So you came to rub it in!" James said, with the air of someone that has just figured out the most obvious thing in the world.

Remus sighed. "No I'm not. I'm just telling you that I'm taking the girl you like to the Ball because she is my friend, because I _thought_ you knew that you could trust me and so you won't have to worry about her going to the Ball with someone like Lockhart. I'm also letting you know this instead of keeping this from you so you'll know that you _can_ trust me James."

Remus walked over to his bed and dropped his robe. He walked over to the window sill and sat on the built in window seat, looking at the mass of disoriented colors that was the rising of the sun.

He heard James close the hangings around his bed and mutter "Next time you get a date to a ball, just make sure it is a girl your best mate _isn't_ pinning for."

"Only if I can help it James," said Remus quietly. "Only if I can help it."

A/N: Aww! James and Remus! It's so hard to decide which to side with, isn't it? Lily and James. Lily and Remus. Well, it's a Lily and James story, but there had to be other people, right?

Evil Konny! (Yeah, I know. My friends tell me constantly.)


	15. In With Slytherin

The Slytherin dungeons were almost always occupied with students. First through Fourth Years plotting pranks against the Gryffindors, Fifth Years brooding because seemingly no one understood how much they hated the Gryffindors, Sixth Year Death Eaters in training ready to murder the Gryffindors.

Pretty much everyone in Slytherin hated the Gryffindors. That would of course be with the exception of the Seventh Years, who were too worried about marrying and producing the next generation of Gryffindor haters, and Tina, Robert, and Ashlee, a meek First Year.

Early that morning, however, the dungeons were occupied by five teenagers and an eleven year old. Two of the five had no idea what they were getting themselves into. Every year since Andromeda's first year, Lucius had insisted upon converting her way of thinking about Muggles, Muggle-borns, and Half-Bloods. It had turned into an annual discussion of how they were each upholding Slytherins' honor. Lucius Malfoy was a very cruel, conniving, cunning kitsune of a person (A/N: 10 pts to the reader that can tell me what a kitsune is.) but that didn't mean that he was unreasonable.

He always argued that Andromeda's tolerance of Muggles, Mudbloods and Half-Breeds made her weaker than the rest of the Slytherins and defaced the image the rest of the house tried so hard to earn.

It was at that point that Andromeda would roll her eyes and cut him off. If he wanted to talk about defacing Slytherin, she'd show him who was defacing Slytherin. She simply stated that he was giving off the stereotypical image of Slytherin; therefore everyone in the school hated them.

After Tina and Severus had joined Slytherin, Andromeda and Lucius agreed upon one thing: they were to be invited to the 'discussions'. Each sided as expected, and the bickering continued.

Tina took the liberty of inviting Ashlee and Robert to that year's discussion. Seeing as it was Lucius's last year, he really wanted to implement something into the girls' heads. Not that that was actually going to happen.

There was so much tension in the Slytherin dungeons that Robert and Ashlee couldn't bring themselves to sit with the older students. The opted for spots in the corner, watching carefully.

Tina glanced over at the contemplating pair as she entered the room. She was almost positive that both would side with her and Andromeda, but she was wrong in a way that completely screwed up her opinion of one of the newcomers.

She and Andromeda took their seats across from Lucius and Severus, the two groups glaring mavolently at each other. "Black, Thomas, you both know why we're here. I'd like to spend as little time as possible trying to get my point across. Severus and I remain exactly where we stood last year. You two are muddle-minded imbeciles with no particular regard for the responsibility that came with you being sorted into this house. Every year you two make it a point to stand out by supporting those less than worthy, and thanks to you, the respect Slytherin once had is rapidly disintegrating."

Tina and Andromeda exchanged glances, thinking the same thing. Lucius Malfoy was the most repetitive moron on earth.

"Lucius, Severus, however thick you two may be, you should be able to comprehend this little fact. Tina and I are _never_ converting to your limited way of thinking." Andromeda sat back elegantly, a smirk marring her innocent features.

"I still believe it's a miracle that you two have a way of thinking, let alone a limited one," muttered Tina darkly.

"What was that?" barked Lucius, as Tina, Andromeda, and Ashlee dissolved into giggles.

"You might want to keep a tighter leash on your friends," Severus directed at Andromeda.

"You might want to keep a tighter leash on your nose," said Ashlee boldly, crossing the room to sit between Tina and Andromeda.

"You insolent little-" cried Snape, pulling out his wand.

"I don't think that's fair Sev, turning your wand on a First Year," said Andromeda as Tina lazily pulled out her wand and pointed it at Snape.

Lucius stood up and crossed over to where the girls were sitting. He grabbed Andromeda's hair and titled her head back, none too gently. Jabbing her throat with his wand, he hissed "Tell me that I won't do it."

"We all know you're not man enough to do it Malfoy," Tina challenged, not really aware of whether he was or not.

Lucius let out an angry sound, somewhere between a growl and a hiss then looked down at Andromeda again. His eyes widened. Andromeda smiled as her eyes took on a deep red color and her hair began moving from the gust of wind that suddenly swept through the room.

Lucius loosened his hold on her. Severus took advantage of Tina and Ashlee watching Andromeda and Lucius. "Rictushempra!" he cried. Ashley let out a scream as Tina went flying and hit the stone wall on the opposite side of the room. Severus walked over and kicked her. She made no sound. Satisfied, he turned around, looking for Ashlee.

She was nowhere in sight. "Probably ran off to her room. Pathetic little twit," he muttered distastefully. He didn't see Tina slowly rise to her feet behind him.

Andromeda and Lucius were locked in a battle of the wills. As Andromeda morphed her appearance, Lucius fought not to loose his hold on her or look away. She kept morphing until she looked positively snakelike. It was then that Lucius looked away. Andromeda laughed, it was a cold laugh, a dangerous one: one that had sent Sirius running in the other direction since the age of six. It was a laugh that meant that Andromeda was angry.

"Come now Lucius, where's your Slytherin sprit?" She pulled out her wand. "Serpensortia!" she cried. Multiple snakes appeared around them, hissing and spitting and snapping at their heels. Lucius looked around fearfully, all plans of dominance over Andromeda and Tina gone horribly awry.

"Don't tell me that you're afraid of our house mascot?" Andromeda picked up a snake and cuddled it lovingly as the others began to close in around Lucius, fangs barred.

Severus felt an arm close around his neck. Tina pulled him down, straddled his stomach, and began choking him. Severus used his only weapon, his legs, and flipped backwards so that he and Tina switched places. She lost her hold on his neck.

He backhanded her and rolled off of her when she spat at him, missing by mere inches. He straightened up and Tina thought she saw something in his dark eyes. A flash of fear, pain? He glared at her and turned on his heel, taking the path to his quarters. She clutched her cheek and looked over at Ashlee, who was controlling the snake Andromeda had conjured. Lucius gave up and fled to his dorm.

"Good to have you on our side Ashlee," said Andromeda, guiding Ashlee down the steps to her dorm. It was only then that Tina noticed that Robert was missing. She shrugged it off and bid goodnight to her friends.

Lying in her bed that night, thoughts of one person plagued her mind. She thought of Severus. And not in a loathing way either. "Oh hell," she muttered, rolling over. "No, no, no, no, no! I do NOT have a crush on Severus Snape. I do NOT!"

A/N: I know! The update was supposed to be on Friday! Well, guess what! I live in Florida! Miami, to be exact. We got hit by Hurricane Katrina and, unfortunately, I lost power. I just got it back last night, but we decided to let the computer alone for the night and watched the VMAs. Who else thinks that My Chemical Romance, Green Day and Coldplay were the best bands there?

As for Tina, denial is not good! I think I'll make her fall in love with Sev.

Review Replies Chapter 12

Fairy-GYAKUTENNO-MEGAMI it may have took ages but it was great! same as this chappie! i love the pink bunnies!

_Me too! -_

believe-in-yourself4ever I am a little behind on your story. Sorry. I have been kind of busy and then school starts up again next week so yeah...  
But it is very good...I like iot a lot. But remember, if you don't update (after chapter 13, which by they way I still have to read) then my mutated paperclip will come and eat all of your socks! I dont' know how he will but he will!  
Best Wishes!

_No! Please! Runs away from mutated paper clip, taking socks along_

hpluvas im behind! i shouldve been reading ages ago (apperantly) og well. ON TO THE NEXT CHAPTER!

_-_

Review Replies Chapter 13

Fairy-GYAKUTENNO-MEGAMI, believe-in-yourself4ever, _Bearable? I'll see…. -_

where-my-heart-resides _Difficulties? Hmm… -_

hpluvas _what is it with the mutant things? - _

lilian, Liz, _conflicting interests in your reviews! I'll see what I can do to straighten things out…. -_


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